Bottle filling and corking machine



Filed Oct. 19, 1926 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR p fluw a ATTORNEYS N. F.SAVIANO BOTTLE FILLING AND CORKING MACHINE April 23, 1929.

Filed Oct. 19, 1926 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 VENTOR W 7? 2/ IM 1:4, rid.

Hi6 ATTORNEYS April 23, 1929. N. F. SAVIANO BO TTLE FILLING AND CORKINGMACHINE Filed Oct. 19, 1926 9 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR #13 ATTORNEY5April 23, 1929.

N. F. SAViANO BOT'IILE FILLING AND CORKING momma Filed Oct. 19, 1926 nl. l. 1 lilllllil iflllillllllllilill 9 sheetsheetyl INVENTOR BY M, KM

Hi6 ATTORNEY$ April 23, 1929. N. F. SAVIANO 1,710,074

BOTTLE FILLING A ND CORKING MACHINE Filed Oct. 19, 1926 9 Sheets-Sheet 5lNVENTOR m a. d

BY D4 5 #Z H1; ATTORNEYS April 23, 1929. N. F. SAVIANO BOTTLE FILLINGAND CORKING MACHINE Flled Oct. 19, 1926 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 I .INVENTOR W W0 BY /M pm, Y'M

fll a' ATTORNEYS April 1929- N. F. SAVIANO 1,710,074

BOTTLE FILLING AND CORKING MACHINE Filed Oct. 19, 1926 9 Sheets-Sheet 98/00 /fl3 fi 94 M2 79 INVENTOR W 1" MM- 78 M pm, M?

m. ATTORNEYS April 23, 1929. N. F. sAvlANo BOTTLE FILLING AND CORKINGMACHINE Filed Oct. 19, 1926 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 INVENTOR Hi; ATTORNEYS wwmQNN Patented Apr. 23, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NICOLA F. SAVIANO, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ssrenoii. T0 CHARLES C.ononrr'r, on

new YORK, N. Y.

BOTTLE FILLING AND CORKING MACHINE.

Application filed October 19, 19556. Serial No. 142,537.

This invention relates to a bottle filling and col-king machine, andmore particularly concerns a machine of this type designed toautomatically till smallihottles or vials with a pre-determined numberof pills pellets or other objects and to cork the filled bottles.

In. the packing of large quantities of small articles, such as medicalpills or pellets in small containers, such asho'ttles, it has been foundeconomical. and otherwise desirable to employ automatic packingmachinery. It is essential that machinery of this type he arranged toperform the packing operations continuously and rapidly, and that themachine be capable of operatingwith a minimum amount of manualattention.

I 1V ith the above and other considerationsin mind, it is an object ofthe present invention to provide an automatic bottle lillinp; andcor-king machine, and more specifically, to provide a machine of thistype in which hottles. vials or other containers are automaticallyfilled with a pre-determined number of pills pellets or other smallobjects; the container-slicing automatically corked.

The machine 01. the present inventionineludes bottle feeding means forarranging the empty bottles in a row and continuously feeding them to abottle filling mechanism. The fillingmechanismis arranged to pick up thebottles one by one and tolill them with a nc-dotcrminednumber of pillsor other ohiects, after which the bottles are transferred to a corkingmechanism in which the corks are tightly inserted, thus completing thepacking operation. p

The present invention furthercontemplates the provision of a mechanismfor continuously and. automatically arranging the bottle coriis orstoppers in a pre-determined relation. and feeding them to the bottlecorking mechanism with their large ends uppermost;

thus avoiding the necessity of a manual operat-ion in arrangingthecorlis.

Other specific objects, advantages and details of the present inventionwill become apparent as the description thereof progresses. Indescribin; the invention in detail, refer ence wi ll. be made to theaccompanying drawings, in which; I Fig. 1 is a side elevation of thebottle lillinn and corkingmechanism, a portion ol the bottle feeding;mechanism being shown in a section taken along the 1ine,1-1 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a plan view, partly in. sectiom of anisms Fig. 3 is a side thebottle feeding Fig. 1 is a side view of a development of the bottleeorking mechanism;

1 1g. 5 1s a sectional vlew taken along the line 55 ofFig. 7 and viewedin the direction of: the arrows; I Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5showing portions of the bottle filling and corking drums in slightlydifferent relative positions; Fig. 7 is a sectional View taken along theline 77 of Figs. 3 and 4, and viewed in the direction of the ar rows;

8 is a sectional side view of the bottle tri l ng mechanism taken alongthe line 8-8 of: Fig. 3 and viewed in the direction 0:1, the arrows viewof a development of mechanism;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view similar to Fig. I

8; taken along the line 99 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 10 a sectional view taken along the line .1010 of Fi S and viewedin the direction of the arrows Fig. 11 sectional View taken alone; theline 11-11 of F lg. 8, and viewed in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 12 is a section takenalong the line 1212 of Fig. l and viewed inthe direction of the arrows; 1 Fig". 13 a. side elevation of the bottlefeedmgr mechanism;

Fig. 14 is a front elevation of the bottle feeding mechanisn'i;

Fig.15 is an enlarged sect.i nal view of a portion. of the bottle'leedin mechanism;

Fig. 1.6 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion. of the bottlefeeding drum and cer tain associative mechanisms;

. Fig. 17 is a section of a portion of the bottleitmnlinndrum. takenalong: the line 1717 0t Fig. 1G, and viewed in. the direction of thearrows i Fig. 18 is a section of the bottle feeding drum taken along thelind 1S-fl8 of Fig. 16 and viewed in the direction oil the arrows;

Fig. 19 is a side view of the bottle catching compartment, certainportions being broken away toshow the interior structurethereof;

Fig. 20 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the hottletecding guideplate;

Fig, 2.1 is a sectional. view taken along the line ill- 21 of Fig. 2 andviewed. in the direcline 2l2et of Figs t and 23, and viewed in thedirection of the arrows; V 7

Fig. is a plan view of a portion of the bottle corkiiig mechanism in theposition in which a cork is about to be dropped into a r 13 are suitablysecured around the cylindrical outer face 14 of the filling drum BF,these bottle;

Fig.26 is a sectional view taken along the line 2626 of Fig. 25;

Fig. 27 is a sectional view of the cork de pressing apparatus takenalong the. line 2727 of Fig. i; I

Fig. 28 is a side elevation of the cork arranging and feeding mechanism;I i

Fig. 29 is a sectional view takenv along the line 2929 of Fig. 28 andviewed in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 30 is a sectional view taken along the line 30-30 of Fig. 29 andviewed in the direction of the arrows; g Fig. 31 is an enlargedsectional view of the cork feeding mechanism;

Figs. 32 and 33 are respectively sections taken along the lines 3232 and33-33 of Fig. 31;

Fig. 34' is an enlarged view of one ofthe cork retaining plungers;

Fig. 35 isa plan view of the cork arranging tongue;

Fig. 36 is aview of the underside of the receiving end of the cork feedtube; and v F lg. 37 is a view ofa modified form of corking plunger,together with a cam. for actuating the plunger. 7 V

In order to simplify the description of the machine of the presentinvention certain portions of the machine and the operation there ofwill be separately described.

Botflc filling mechanism 698. '1, Q, 3 and 8 Hzrough Z5 Referring to thedrawings, andinore particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the machine of thepresent invention includes a rectangular platform or table 1, supportedfrom a suitable base or foundation (not shown) by the depending legs 2.A main drive siiaft 3 is rotatablyjournaled in a flanged sleeve 4,suitably secured tothe platform las shown. A lar e hollow drum BF,designates the bottle filling drum, having a depending sleeve 5 rigidlysecured to the lower face thereof, is carried by the shaft 3; the sleeve5 being secured to turn with the shaft 3 by means of the set screw 6.Above the filling drum BF, and mounted thereon to rotate therewith by aflanged sleeve 7 is a cylindrical hopper or pill container H having aremovable cover 8. V

The two drums BF and H, together with their connecting sleeve 7 andother associated parts are continuously rotated in a clockwisedirection, as viewed in Fig. 2, by the main drive shaft 3.- The shaft 3may be driven in any suitable manner from any suitable source of powerbut is preferably driven through a worm gear 9, mounted between thefixed collars 10 and 11 to turn on the shait Q, and connect to drive theshaft in one direction only by means of a pawl and ratchet arrangementof the well known type, shown at 12.

A double row of aligned projecting strips strips being peripherallyspaced to form a Ell plurality of vertically disposed notches 15 ofgeneral U-shaped cross section around the periphery of the drum BF, asis shown in Fi 2.

The strips 13 are tapered at their trailing ends, with reference to thedirection of rotation of the drum BF as shown, and are ar- 7 ranged inpairs spaced axially of the drum to provide a. broken peripheral groove16 thereon.

portion 23 extending upwardly adjacent the outer faces of these stripsas best shown'in Figs. 8 and 9. The bottles B which are to be filled arepressed againstthe cylindrical face of the drum BF by the bottlefeeding11106118 nism which will be hereinafter described, and are picked ofione by one in the notches 15 and carried around with the drum BF, thesebottles being retained in the notches by the por tion 23 of the shelf S,with their lower ends resting on the portion 22 of the shelf.

lhe mechanism for feeding the pills into the bottles will now bedescribed. Directly above each of the notches 15, is disposed a hollowsleeve 24:, slidably carried in an opening formed in an extension 25near the upper edge ofthe drum BF as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. The sleeves24 are held against rotation by the pins 26, secured thereto andextending into vertical slots 27 in the extensions 25 as shown.

' As each of the sleeves 2i and their associated outwardly from thesleeve 24 as shown. The inner arm of the bell crank lever 29 is arrangedto extend into the interior of the sleeve 24; and to closethe openingtherethrough when inthe position shown inFig. 8. Directly above thesleeve 24, a hollow angle fitting 33 is rigidly supported by the bracket34 secured to the upper face of the drum BF. The outer face of the anglefitting 33 is provided with a slot or opening extending into theinterior thereof, in which is carried a second bell crank lever 36,similar to the lever 29, and arranged to control the opening through thefitting 33.

pills through the feedingmechanism.r

A lower feed tube 37 is adjustably and rigidly secured to theanglefitting 33 by means of the tapered nut 38 engaging the tapered split end39 of the angle fitting, a short nip ple 40 being provided to tormasmooth tubular connection between fitting 33 and the feed tube 37. Thetube 37 is provided with an integral squared portion 41 which can beconveniently gripped by a wrench or other tool in order to facilitatethe adjustment of the vertical position of this tube.

The lower end of the feed tube 37 is slidably inserted into the interiorbore of the upper end of the sleeve 24, and bears against the inner arm32 of the bell crank lever 29 as shown. A rod 413 is pivotably connectedwith the outer arm 31 of the bell crank lever 29, and is rigidly andadjustably connected to a second rod ll in any suitable manner. Theupper end of the rod 44 passes looselythrough an opening 4-5 in theouter arm 46 of the upper bell crank lever 36; a light spring 47 beingcoiled about the rod 44 between the shoulder 48 and a slidable stop 49,engaging thearn'r 46. By properly adjusting the connection between therods 43 and 44:, the bell crank levers 29 and 36 are caused to operatesimultaneously, the upper lever36 opening the passsage through the anglefitting when the lower lever 29 closes the passage from the lower feedtube 37 to the sleeve 24- as shown in Fig. 8, and the upper lever 36closing the passage through the angle fitting 33 when the lower teedtube 37 is opened by the lever 29. A weight 50 is pretl'erz-iblyslidably mounted on the upper end of the rod 44 to rest outhe outer arm46 of the bell crank lever 36, this weight acting to force the bellcrauklever 36 to its open position when the rod lslis lowered as shownin Fig. 8. I

From a study of the :t'oregoing description taken in connection withFigs. 8 through 11, it will be seen that when the sleeve 24 is forcedupwardly as shown in Fig. 9, the lower end of the teed tube 37, beingheld stationary by the bracket 34, engages the inner arm32 off the bellcrank lever 29,.1noving this lever to its open position as shown in Fig.9 and permitting the pills P, formerly "retained between The levers 99and 36 act as valves to control the flow ot the two bell crank levers,to drop into the bottle B, the upper bell crank lever being raised bythe rod 44 and spring 47 to shut oil the flow of pills in'the anglefitting 33, and thereby permitting only a Inc-determined quantitycrushing or breaking of the pill results.

hen the sleeve 24 is rehiased, it returns to its lower position, thelever 29 closing the lower opening, and the lever 36 opening the upperopening and thus refilling the angle fitting 33 and the feed tube 37with a charge of pills. The sleeve 2st is provided with an inner sleeve52 slidably mounted therein and pressed against the lower, end of thefeed tube'37 by means of a coiled spring53. This inner sleeve 52provides a smooth interior for the sleeve 21 and avoids the jannning ofthe pills inst the ledge 42 which would be left exposed in the sleeve2st if this inner sleeve 52 were not provided. a i

The number of pills admitted to each bottle by the feeding mechanismmaybe varied by :uljusting the position of the lowerfeed tube 37 inv theangle fitting 33. For exanuile, it it desired to increase the number oilpills fed to each bottle, the nut 33 is loosened and the tube 37 ismoved down ward a short distauce with ICSIXTCl} to the litting 33 andagain clamped in place. In this manner, the length of the column ofpills in the tubes 40 and 37 and the htting 33 is increased, thereby increasing the number of pills led toeach bottle. The downward movwient ofthe tube w a ol causes a slight movement or the lower bell crank lever29, which .movement is not-,how-

evensuflicieut to permit the pills to drop from the feed tube. The rods43 and 44 are relatively adjusted so that theircombined length isdecreased, thus .n'iaiutaining the upperbell crank lever 36 in theproper position relative to the central opening in the fitting 33. Theniuuber of pillsil ed to each bottle may be decreased by moving the tube37 u pward and thereby shortening tlw column of pills comprising eachcharge.

A large quantity of pills is stored within the hopper H, and these pillsare carried from the hopper to the angle fittings 33 through the upperteed tubes '54: which are suitably secured to openii'ig in the bottom ofthe hop? per H as shown, The tubes 54lare preterably made of glass, sothat the flow of the pills l-llOl'Ctlll'OUQll'lllity be observed. The

hopper H is provided with an axially dis posed sleeve 55in the interiorthereof, this sleeve being integral with or suitably secured to the-baseof thehopper to turn therewith. A shaft56 extends loosely into theinterior of the sleeve resting on upper end of the main drive shaft 3 asshown in Fig. 1.

The shaft 56 carries a large wheel 57 rigidly secured thereto, andbearing on the up'per end of the sleeve 55. The wheel 57 s protendingrods 58, the lower ends of which are arranged in close proximity withthe bottom of the hopper H and in line'with the openings leading to thefeed tubes e as clearly shown in Fig. 1. These rods 58 together with thewheel 57 and the shaft 56 are heldstationary relative to'the hopper H bymeans of a leveret which is pivotally secured to a vertical extension 60of the support 21, which lever fits into a vertical slot 61 in the shaft56. he rods 58 are so disposed relative to the hopper H as to preventthe flow of pills through the openings at the base of the hopper duringthe time when the pillsare being admitted to charge the lower feed'tube37.

The purpose of this cutting off of the flow of.

' pills is to prevent the loss of a large number may be rapidly forcedthrough the openings in the hopper H while this hopper .is rotat-.

of pills when it becomes necessary to'remove or replace one of theglass-feed tubes 5-1 or any other pill carryingmembers of the bottlefilling mechanism. In order that the pills ing, a plurality of coiledspringsor wires 62 are secured to the lower ends of the rods 58 in anysuitable manner as'clearly shown in Fig. 12, these springs lying inclose proximity to the openings in the base of the hopper H and rapidlypushing the pills into these openings as the hopper is rotated.

In Fig. 3 the cylindrical edge of the filling drum BF is shown inprojected form, in or.- der that a clear understanding of the operationof the bottle filling mechanism may be obtained. The horizontal portion22 of the bottlesupporting shelf S is cut away for a shortdistance at64;, and an upwardlyextending ramp or cam 65 is supported in alignmentwith the shelf S at this point. The ramp-65' is provided with an offsetextension 66 which is hinged to the lower side of the shelf S at thepoint 67, the opposite end of the ranipbeing carried by a spring 68, supported by a bracket 69 which is suitably secured to the vertical portion23 of the shelf S. An adjustable stop 70 is threaded through 'the offsetextension 66 of the ramp 65, and

bears against the lower face of the shelf S, thus limitingqthe upwardmovement of the ramp under the pressure of the spring 68.

The ramp 65 being held stationary by the shelf S relative to the therotative movement of the drum BF, is successively engagedby the lowerends of the bottles as they are carricd 'around by the drum, the bottlesbeing thus forced upwardly against their respectlVG associated sleeves24 lifting these sleeves to their upper positions and thereby causing acharge of pills to be dropped through these sleeves into the bottles asdescribed above.

The adjustable stop screw 70 adjusts the initial position of the ramp65, and the spring 68 is provided to take care of slight variations I inthe heightof the bottles. vided with a plurality of downwardly ex-Bottle Transfer and C'orkiag Mechanism (Figs. 1, '1 and through drum CDis provided with an outwardly extending flange 74 atlts upper end, andis provided with a plurality of aligned spaced extensions 75 integralwith or. suitably secured to its cylindrical surface beneath thisflange. The vertical dimension of the extensions 7 5 is arranged to beless than the height of the bottles to be corked. The spaces between theextensions 75 are arranged to form equally spaced substantiallyU-shapedperi )heral notches 76 on the drum, these note es being equal in numberto the notches 15 on the )eriphery of the bottle filling drum BF.

he shaft 72 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed inFig. 2, from the main drive shaft 3 through a train of gears ashereinafter described, the two shafts 3 and 72 being arrangedto rotateat the same angular velocity. The drums BF and CD carried by the shafts3 and 72 are arranged in close proximity to one another and aresynchronized so that their respective peripheral notches 15and 76 are inalignmentafter they pass adjacent-to one another. Theextending flange 74; of the corking drum CD is provided with a plurality of verticalcylindrical openings 77 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, one of these openingsbeing directly above and in alignment with each of the notches 76. Theseopenings 77 are enlarged at their lower ends to a diameter greater thanthe outside diameter of the necks of the bottles B as clearly shown inFigs. 26 and 27.

The sleeve 73 carries a stationary circular bottle'supporting platformor shelf 7 8, arranged to present a horizontal shelf portion 79extending beneath the notches 76, and. a vertical cylindrical wallportion 80 lying in close proximity to the'extensions 75 on the drum'CD. The" wall portion 80 extends around substantially three-fourths ofthe periphery of the drum CD.

As the filled bottles are carried by the filling drum BF toward thepoint at which they are transferred to the corking drum CD, (this pointbeing designated at T in Fig. 2) the bottles are lowered to a positionin which their upper ends, are below the level of the flange 74 oncorking drum CD, this being accomplished by; a downwardly inclined orvlowered portion 81 on the horizontal portion 22 of the bottle supportingshelf S. The lowered portion 81 oil the shelf S overlaps a horizontallowered portion 7 9 of the supporting table 78 ot the corkii'igmechanism at the transfer point T as clearly shown F ig. 4:. At thetransfer point T the horizontal supporting wall 23 ot the lillingineclniiiisin ends and a movable linger-82, pivoted at 83 and biased bythe spring 84, bears against each bottle and inovably retains it in itsproper position during the transfer opera tion. 'An opening 85 isprovided in the horizontal bottle suprmrting wall 80 of the corkingmechanism at the transfer point T, and two tapered transfer l ngers 80and 87 are suitably secured to one edge of this wall and extend over theopening as shown in Figs. l, and 0. he lingers 80 and 87 are providedwith pointed ends which extend respec tively into the peripheral groove10, and below the lower of the strips 13 on the filling drum BF, and inclose proximity to the cylindrical surface of this drum, as clearlyshown in Fi 3 and 5.

As the two drums rotate, each bottle in turn is carried by the taperedlingers 86 and 87 out ot a. notch on the filling drum BF and into anotch 76 on the cor-king drum CD, the bottlebeing held steadily in anupright position duringthe transfer operation by the spring pressedlii'iger 82, and moving to a position beneath. anopening 77 in theflange 7dr ot the corking drum.

This transfer opcration has been shown in Figs. 5 and 6, Fig. 5 showingthe relative positions of the drums at which the lingers and 78 lirstengage the bottle B, and Fig. 6 showing the bottle as it enters the slot70 on the corking drum CD.

After the transfer operation, the continued rotation 01 the cor-kingdruin CD brings each bottle in turn up an inclined surface 88 on thehorizontal portion 79 of the table 7 8, this surface n'iovin the bottleupward and insert in the neck thereof into the enlarged lower portion oithe opening 77 in the flange 7 4-, as shown in Fig. 27. The bottle isnow in position for the corking operation.

The upper surface of the cor-king druin CD is provided with. a pluralityof sectors 89, one :lor each of the openings 77 in the flange 4, thesesectors being 'iivotally secured to the drum CD in a suitable manner atthe point 90 to move over the snrtaee thereof, as shown in. Fig. 2. Eachsector 89 is provided with a roller or cain follower 91 secured to theinner corner thereof, and extending upwardly into a cam groove 92 in'astationary cain plate 93. ilhe cain plate 93 is rigidly supported abovethe drum CD by means oi. thebrackets 94, 95 and 96 as shown in Figs. 1and 2. Each sector 89 also carries a vertically extending sleeve 97carrying a (Working plunger 98 which is normally held in its retractedor upper position by a spring 99 as clearly shown in Fig.

27. The upper end of the plunger 98 is provided' with a suitableanti-friction hearing such as the ball bearing 100. The extreme outercorner oteach sector 89 is formed into a'hooked shaped extension 101liiaving an in ternal radius substantially equal to the radius of theopcnin 77 in the llange7et ot the corking drum. The under surface otthesector 89 is cut away beneath the entension 101 and the plunger 98 asclearly shown in Figs. 23, 25 and 27. I, W I

The bracket 94 is provided with a vertical tubular portion 102 carryinga cork feed tube 103. Bottle corks C of a suitable type are continuouslylied through the feed tube 103 with theirtapered ends downward by asuitable cork arranging and :t'eeding mechanism as hereina literdescribed. A pivotallymounted lever 10st is lined to a shaft 105journalle'd in the brackets 94:, this lever being biased in a clockwisedirection, as viewed in F 23, by a spring 106 as shown. The lever 1carries a pin 107 which extends through aligned openings in the tubularportion 102 and the teed tube 103 and holds the lowest cork C stationaryin the end of the feed tube. A finger or trigger 108 is fixed to thelower end of the shaft 105 and extends over the extensions on the drumCD in a position to be engaged by a bottle as it is carried around bythe druin,'the normal position of this trigger being best shown in Fig.23. i

As a bottle is carrier around by the drum, it engages the trigger 108,moving the lever 104 a distance sutticient to permit the pin 107 torelease one cork C from the feed tube 108, the trigger lever and pinthen being returned by the spring 106 to hold the next cork C in theendof the feed tube. The released cork is dropped on the top of the flange7 1 near one of the openings 77. As

the drum continues to rotate, the cork C is held against movementtherewith by an arm 109 of a'bell crank lever 110, pivotally supportedon the bracket 94 as shown, and having a notch 111 provided in the outerend of the arm 109 for the reception of the cork C. The outer arin 112of: the bell crank lever 110 is provided with a downwardly otl'setroller 113 adapted to bear against the outer edge of the flange 7 1, aspring 114 being provided to'bias the bell crank lever to the positionshown in Figs. 23 and 25. The peripheral edge of the flange 74- isnrovidedv with a plurality of outwardly extending trips 115, disposed toengage theroller 113 of the bell crank lever 110: and to quickly snapthis lever outwardly as the drum CD is rotated, each. trip 115 beingdisposed adjacent one of the openings 77 in the flange 74, in such aposition that the lever 110 is snapped out just as the opening 77 isaligned with the notch 111 in the arm 109.

The cani groove 92 in the stationary cam plate 93 runs parallel to theperiphery of the drum CD up to a point just beyond the bracket 94; inthe direction of the rotation of the drum, and is spaced a distance fromthe edgeof the flange 7 such that each of the sectors 89 is maintainedin a position with its hooked extension 101 aligned with one of theholes 77 in the flange until such sector has passed toe bracket 94.. Asthe drum CD rotates, and a bottle approaches the bracket 9 1', thetrigger-108 is engaged and pushed outwardly by the wall of the bottle,releasing cork C from they tube 103, the remaining corks being retainedin the tube by the pin 107 as the trigger 108 is released by the bottleand. the lever 10% is returned to its normal position by the spring 106.The cork C drops on the flange 74: and is held against movementtherewith by the arm 109 of the bell crank lever 110, the corkresting inthe notch 111 at the end of this arm. 7 As the drum continues torot-ate, the hooked extension 101 on the sector 89 engages the cork,this extension together with the arm 109 serving to center the corkabove the opening 77. At this point v in the rotation of the drum, thetrip 115 cugages the roller 113 of the bell crank lever 110, snappingthis lever outwardly and swinging the arm 109 away from thecork C,

thus permitting the cork to drop through the opening 77 and into theneck of the bottle B. T he cam groove 92 is so formed as to move eachsector 89 outward after the cork C has been dropped through thecorresponding openin 77, the sector being thus moved until the corkingplunger 98 is directly over the opening 77 as shown in Fig. 27 Shortlyafter the sector. under consideration is moved to this position, theanti-friction ball bearing 100 on the upper end of the plunger 98 isengaged by a cam surface 116 which forces t-he plunger downward, thusforcing the cork C securely into the neck of the bottle B as shown in.Fig; E1. The cam surface 116 'is curved to conform with the path oftravel of the plunger as shown in Fig. 2, and is suitably secured. to asupporting bracket 117 which is slidably carried by the vertical support118. A vertical adjusting screw 119 is journalcd in the stationarybracket 96 and has a screw threaded engagement with the bracket 117,thus permitting the vertical adjustinent of the cam surface 116 to varythe depression of the plunger 98. A set screw 120 is preferably providedin the bracket 117, by means of which this bracket may be clampe l tothe support 118 after adjustment.

A modified form of corking plunger and cam surface is shown in Fig. 37.In this modification, the upper end of the plunger 98 is offset and isprovided with a horizontally disposed roller 121which is engaged by acam groove or slot 122 in the member 123. The member 123 is secured tothe bracket 117 and operates the plunger 98 positively, that is, liftsthis plunger out of the opening 7 7 as well as inserting it therein".The modification of Fig. 37 has a certain advantage over the lun er andcam surface arran einent shown in Figs. 1 and 27, in that this modifiedform due to the collection of dirt or abrasive matter within the sleeve97. V

Afterthe corks C have been inserted and pressed into the bottles, eachbottle in turn is lowered to a position in which its neck and cork arewithdrawn from the opening 77 in the flange 74, this being accomplishedby the lower ends of the bottles passing down an incline '3 inthe'hcrizontal portion 79 of the table 78. Each bottle in turn is thenpicked off of the drum by means'of the fingers 124: and 125 which aredisposed in close proximity to the surface of the drum CD above andbelow the extensions respectively. The

Bottle feeding mechanism (Figs. 1, 2 and 13 throw 7i 22).

An outwardly extending feeding platform or table 129 is secured to themain platform 1 by a suitable support 130, the upper surface of thefeeding platform being on a level with the horizontal-portion 22 of thebottle feeding supporting shelf S on the bottle feeding drum BF. A pairof parallel upwardly extending brackets 131 and 132 are secured inspaced relation to the upper surface of the feeding platform 129 nearits outer end as shown in Fig. 14., these brackets having angular offsetportions 133 and134 respectively. A bottle delivery chute 135securedbetween the offset portions 133 and 13% of the brackets 131 and132, this chute being preferably formed of sheet metal and beingdisposed at an angle of approximately degrees to the horizontal platform129. The upper portion 136 of the chute 135 is hinged at 137 to swingdownwardly to the position shown in broken lines in Fig. 13, the springs138 being provided to normally maintain this portion 136 in alignmentwith the fixed portion 135 of the chute.

A bottle feeding drum FD is carried in a horizontal position on a shaft139, which shaft is journaled in the brackets 131 and 132 and is driventhrough a worm wheel M0 as hereinafter described. The drum FD isprovided on its outer surface with a plurality of parallel eripherallydisposed ridges or extensions l ll as shown in Figs. 16, 17 and 18. Theridges 1&1 are cut away to form transverse rows'of substantiallysemi-circular depressions 1 12 at points equally spaced about theperiphery of the drum FD. The depressions 14:2 are somewhat longer thanthe length of the bottles to be filled, and are formed to 143 and 144;at the opposite ends thereof as shown in Fig. 16. A pair of rollers 1 15are loosely carried in the slotsl lG lorlnediin extensions of thebrackets 131 and 132, these rollers serving to retain the bottles in thedepressions 142 of the drum FD they are can ried away from the deliverychute 135. A tapered metal strip 14-7 rests on. the ends of the bottlesat the lower end of the delivery chute, and maintains them in alignmentas they are picked off by the drum.

ing platform 12-9 adjacent to the drum FD, which frame carries a. linedvbottle delivery compartment 14:!) havinga vertical opening therethroughand extending across the face of the drum shown iuFigs. 13 and 14. Amovable bottle catching compartment 150 is pivotallysupported at itsends on the delivery compartment 149 and is arrangedto swing from a.position in which its upper edge bears on the face of the drum FD asshown in Fig. 13, toa position in which its cen.tral.,o] )ening is invertical alignmentwith the central opening through the compartment 1-19,as shown in Fig. 15. The bottle catchin compartment 150, shown in detailin Figs. 15 and 19, coma prises an outer wall 151 of appreciably greaterheightthan that of the bottles, and. an inner wall. .lfzL having a rowoil: upwardly extending lingers 153 on the upper edge thereof. The innerfaces of the walls 151. and 152 are provided with oppositely disposedaligned grooves 127 which are shaped to conform with the outer walls oi?the bottles, these aligned grooves being arranged .in alignment with thedepressions 1412 on the surface of the drum F1). The lingers 153 arespaced to rest in the grooves 154: between the ridges 141 on the drum FDwhen the comparti'nent 150 is in the position shown in Fig. 13.. A pairof elongated curved. spring fingers 155 are suitably seemed to the outerwall 151 of the bottle.

catching compartment 150, the upper ends of these lingers being arrangedto rest in the grooves 154: on the drum FD when the con1- partinent 150is inclined against the drum as shown in Fig. 13. end of the deliverycon'ipartment 149 is controlled by a gate 156, pivoted at the oppositeends of this compartment and adapted to be swung outwardly as shown inFig. 13.

Directly below the opening in the compartment ii!) is disposed a plate157 extending across the lace of the drum l? D and having an, otli'setextension or groove 158 thereon. Opposite and parallel to this plate 157is a sheet metal shield 1.59, secured to the angle bracket 148 in anysuitable manner, and having an intnrned lowerlip or shelf portion 160.disposed directly opposite the groove 158 in the plate 157. The groove15S and the lip 160 are normally disposed. a distance apart equal to thediameter of the bottles to be filled, so that when the bottles aredropped The opening at the lower from the compartment lit) by the gate156 they will dropto a position in which their bases rest between thegroove loo and the lip trolled respectively by two cams Nil :3 d llli ifixed to the shaft 135) and rota'lin with toe An angle frame 1 18 issecured to the feeddrum Fl). The cam 161. is suhsi' 1y star shaped, andone. go. a. roller 18;; carried by one arm of a bell crank lever 1434,the other arm o'l which engages the inner wall. 152 oi the u'iovablecompartment 15%), the bell craulc lever 16 i being pivotally mounted onan extension ot the bracket l lii iuanner. The com}nirl'znrnt 1) isbiased toward its annular or tilted pos .ion by means of a spring 165connected beiwveen this coinpartnient and a lufackel; 1643 as shown inFig. 1.3. The cam i612 provided. with a notched cam surface which enages a. roller 1.67 on one end oi? a lever 168, the other end 01. whichengages the headot a plunger 169, the lever 168 being pivotallv mountedon the bracli'eli ii any suitable M ii 166. Tl plunger 16?)slidablymounted. in

the briwket 1613 and ,1 ts outer end bears against a lug extendingiljrom one end, or the gate 156.

'lhe lever 166 is biasedv by the spring 170 to a position in which itsroller 157 engages the surface of the cam 1.62, and the plunger .161) isbiased by a spring 171 to a position in which its head is in constantengagement with the a lower end. of the lever 158, the spring 170 beingstronger than s n-lug 171.

The plate 157 is pivolally connected to an extension 172 of the platformby a shaft 173, and carries two sprocket wheels 174 and 175, the :wheel17% be lined to the shaft- 173 and the wheel 175 being rohrtably mouutedon a stub shaft 1745. The shaft 176 extends through a curved slot 177 ina fixed support 178. irnendh food. chain 17 engages the sprocket wheels1 and. 1.75 and the wheels and chain are d on in the zlirectionindicated by the arrow through the shaft- 173 in a manner which will behereinaii'tm' described. A handle 1S0 preferably secured to the outerend of the plate 157, and this plate is held in the position shown by aspring itch 181 which may be released. to permit the plate 157 to beswung outwardly away from the shelf 15!) to release the bottles whichmay be held between these two members and in order to permitthecleaning, repair or adjustment of certain parts of themechanism. Thechain 17 9 carries a plurality of extensions 182, spaced along the chaina distance greater tluin the width of the bottle feeding drum Fl).

Parallelwith the angle frame 14.8 and extending from the sprocket wheel17!: to a point adjacent the filling drum Pall, is a guide plate .183having an outwardly extending flange 184 at its upper edge. The plate183 is supported by rods 185, rigidly secured thereto and slidablyengaging the brackets 186 whicharesuitably secured to the plattor1n129as shown in Fig. 21. Coil springs 187 are provided on the rods 185 toforce the plate 183 toward the angular bracket 148', the movement of theplate 183 being adj ustably limited by means of the nuts 188, screwthreaded on the rods 185 and the tension of the springs 187 beingadjustable by means of the bushings 189 having ascrew threadedengagement with the brackets 186. The interior face of theplate 1831isprovided with a plurality of wide spring fingers 190 suitably securedthereto and inclined toward the this extension being pressed toward theangle bracket 148 by means of an adjustable spring 194 carried by abracket 195 as shown in Fig. A guide member 196 is secured to the outeredge of the platform 129 beneath the extension 193 and beyond the end ofthe plate 183 as clearly shown in Figs. 14 and 22. An

upper guide strio 197 is pivotally secured to the top of the anglebracket 148 and is held in the position shown against suitable stops bymeans of coiled springs 198. The under surface of the strip 197 is cutawaynear'its ends at 199 and 200 as is clearly shown in Fig.- 14. and ahandle 201 is provided near the center of this strip in'order that thestrip may be swung back to give access to the space between the guideplate 183 and the angle bracket 148.

An endless belt 202 passes along the inner surface of the angle bracket148, passing between the shield 159 and the angle bracket beneath thedrum as shown in Fig. 15. The belt 202 is carried by ,a pair of alignedpulleys 203 and 204 rotatably carried on stub shafts at opposite ends ofthe platform 129, the belt being driven by a pulley 205 and being heldin contact therewith by two idler pulleys 206 and 207. The belt 202 isdriven in the direction of the arrow by the drive pulley 205 and theproper tension is maintained thereon by the adjustable block 208carrying the pulley 204, the adjustment being made by the hand nut 209en aging athreaded rod 210 secured to the block 208 as shown in Fig. 2.7

An extension of the vertical portion 23 of the shelf S around thefilling drum BF extends away from the drum in a direction tangent to thebelt 202 where it engages the pulley 203, this extension forming aguiding wall 215 drum BF.

In the operation of the bottle, feeding mechanism, the bottles are firstplaced in the upper portion 136 of the bottle feeding chute 135, thisportion 136 being preferably moved to the, position shown in the dottedlines in theFig. 13,1and a carton of empty bottles beinginverted'therein as shown. The portion 136 of the chute is then allowedto swing back into the position in which itis aligned *ith the lowerportion 135 of the chute, and the boxot' bottles is allowed to slidedown adjacent to the surface of the feeding drum FD, at which point thebox or container may be removed. The bottles now lie in parallel rows,there being the same number of bottles in each rowas there are bottlereceiving depressions 142 across the surface of the drum FD. The taperedstrip 147 aligns the rows of bottles, pushing any bottles which may beout of place into contact with the lower face of chute 135. Each row ofbottles in turn is picked oil by one of the rows of depressions 142 onthe surface of the feeding drum FD, the rollers 145 holding the ends ofthe bottles from tilting out of the depressions due to the weightof theremaining bottles in the chute 135 bearing against the necks of thebottles in the depressions. The bottles are usually packed withcardboard strips 211, placed between the rows thereof, and these stripsare caught between two pairs of extensions 212 and 213 fixed to theridges 141 on the drum, these extensions being disposed between each rowof depressions 142 as most clearly shown in Figs. 13 and 14. I

As each row of bottles .iscarried around between the belt 202 and theover the top of the drum FD, the bottles slide and the bottles slideinto the interior of this compartment and are held therein by theangular relation between the compartment 150 and the bottle deliverycon'ipartment 149. At the same time that the bottles are dropped intothe compartment 150,j the cardboard strip 211 is picked off of the drumFD by the elongated spring fingers 155 and is allowed to dro down alonetheses )rin fin ers and O D D away from the machine at their lower ends.If it should occur that one of the cardboard strips 211 passeson underthe spring fingers 155, this strip will drop against a shield 214 whichis secured to the angle bracket 148 beneath the drum FD and whichextends over the belt 202. 7

The compartment 150 is now moved to its vertical position by the cam 161the gate 156 being simultaneously closed by the cam 162, and the row ofbottles being droppedinto the delivery compartment 149 and resting withtheir lower ends on this gate. As the mechanism continues to operate,the gate 156 is pushed outwardly by the earn 162, acting through itslever 168 and plunger 169, and the row of bottles is dropped to thelevel of the platform 129 the lower end of each bottle being heldbetween the lip 160 on the shield 159 and the groove 158 on the plate157. One of the extensions 182 on the feed chain 179 now engages the endbottle of the row as clearly shown in Fig. 13and-pushes the entire rowalong theshield 159 and into the space between the belt 202 and theguide plate 183, the bottles being pressed against the belt- 202 by thespring lingers 190 and being rolled along toward the filling drum 13F bythe motion of the belt. As the bottles leave the chain 179 and come intocontact with the plate 183 they are guided by means of the spring linger191 which engages each bottle near the upper end thereof. In passingalong the guide plate 183, being rolled thereon by the belt 202, thereis some tendei'icy for the bottles to creep upwardly and this isprevented by the upper guide strip 197 which yieldingly engages theupper ends of rho bottles and holds them in place. As the bottles passout of contact with the guide plate 183. their necks and side wallsrespectively are engaged by the spring finger 192 and the spring pressedextension 193, their lower ends being held in proper position by themember 196.

At the end of the feeding platform 129 adjacent the filling drum BF, thebottles are pressed against the periphery of this filling drum and arepicked olf one by one and carried around. the drum as described above.The various parts of the feeding mechanism are so synchronized with oneanother that a bottle is always in contact with the surface of thefilling drum, a fresh row of bottles being fed at regular intervals bythe chain 179 into engagement with the belt 202.

Uorlc feed 919 median-ism (1 2'93. 1 cmd 28 through 36 In order that thecorks may be fed to the milking; mechanism with their tapered endsdownward. a cork arranging and feeding mechanism is provided whichautoi'natically and continuously arranges the corks in this relation andfeeds them to the cork feed tube 103.

The cork feedingapparatus is carried by a raised platform or table 216supported above the filling and corking drums by the supports 21, 217and 218. Two parallel plates 219 and 220 are suitably secured to theupper surface of the platform 216, these tween the guide blocks 232and233.

screws 227 to vary the distance between the sliafts22l and The shaft 222carries two drums 228 and 229 disposed in alignment with the drums 223and 224; on the shaft Two parallel endless belts 230 and are carriedrespectively by the aligned pairs of drums 223, 228. and 224, 229,thesebelts-being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the smallestdiameter and slightly less than the largest diameter of the perks used.The belts 230 and 231 are held in this relation by grooves formed in twooppositely disposed blocks 232 and'233 carried respectively by theplates 219 and 220 and o\-erhanging the upper surfaces of the drums. Theblocks 232 and 233 are cut away at an angle on their inner faces to forma. downwardly converging channel or groove 23 1 as clearly shown in Fig.30. i

The shaft 221 together with the drums 223, I

221, 228 and 229 are driven by a gear 235 fixed to this shaft, and thegear 225 between the drums 223 and 221 is driven at a slightly higherspeed than the drums by the gear 236. The gear 236 is fixed to a shaft237 journaled in a block 238 arricd below the platform 216, the gear 236passing through an opening 239 inthe platform. The shaft 237 is drivenfrom the gear 235 through a pinion 240, fixed to this shaft and passingthrough an opening 241 in the platform 216.

A cork container or hopper 242 is supported above the plates 219 and 220by three vertical supports 2 13, 21-1v and 2 15, which supports arefixedto a frame 246 carried on top of the block 233 as shown in Fig. 31.The hopper 242 has a large central opening 2417 in the base thereof.into which extends a Vertical tube or pipe 2 18. fixed to the frame 246by the set screw 2-19 and having itslower opening 250 directly over thegroove 23 1 be- The space between the tube 2418 and the walls of theopening 2 17 in the hop per 2 12 is occupied by the enlarged upper endof a movable sleeve member 251 which is slidably mounted on the tube 248and in the opening 247.

The sleeve 251 is continuously oscillated up and down through a. shortdistance of travel by means of a crank 252 carried bya shaft 253, a conneeting rod or link 2541 being suitably pivotally connected between thecrank 252' and the sleeve 251 as shown in Fig. 31. The shaft 253 carriesa sprocket wheel 255 fixed to the outer end thereof, and also carries asmall gear 256 engaging a large gear wheel 257. The gear wheel 257 ismounted on cap by a pin 270 disposed in a slot 271 in t i 4 ashatt 258to which is fixed a pinion 259, engaging the gear 235 on the shaft 22..The

sprocket wheel 255 is driven through a chain 260 and a gear-and pnnon261 and 262 from small "266 which in turn are slidably mounted incylindrical openings 267 in a block 268. The

vertical distancebetween the pairs of plungers 265 is arranged to begreater than the height of a single cork C and less than the height oftwo such corks disposed one above the other. Each of the caps 266, isbiased to ward its retracted position by a spring 289, and eachplunge1*265 is secured within its he cap, a spring 272 normall retaininghe plunger in the extended position as clearly shown in Fig. 84. 7 Twovertical cylindrical openings 273 and 27% are provided in the block 268,these openings communicating;

with the ends oft-he openings 26? from which the ends of the sleeves 266norn'ially protrude. A pair or vertical rods 275 and 276, fixed to theextensions 27'? and 278 respectively on the movable sleeve 251, extendrespectively into the openings 273 and 22 1, these rods being providedwith the cut away cam surfaces 279 and 280 which engage the ends or" thecaps 266 as'shown. As the sleeve 251. moves up and down,'the camsurfaces 279 and 280 alternately move the up er and lower pair ofplungers L into the tube 25%, thus dropping one cork ata time from atube into the groove 234, and on to the belts 230 and 231.

a A curved guide member 281 of substantially U-shaped cross section ispivoted to a fixed block 311 and extends substantially parallel to theperiphery of the drums 228 This guide member 281 carries a corkarranging tongue 282 on one end thereof, the tongue having a curved freeend as shown in Fig. 35, and extending into the groove 23% over thebelts 230 and 231. The cork feed tube 103 passes through an opening inthe plate 216 and is suitably rigidly fixed thereto, the upper end ofthis teed tube being curved into close proximity with the peripheraledge of the gear 225. rA-n adjusting screw 288, threaded intothe guidemember 281 engages the upper endof the feed tube 108, the guide 281together with the tongue 282 being firmly pressed against the feed tubeby the spring 284.

The teeth of the gear 225 are cut away at In this manner all the Thecorks fall on to these 0 shown in Fig. 32. "under the guide 291 and292are of 1 .1 .7

and ad usted by manipula 1 of the set screw 7 283.

the 0s *illating s the upper end of n are retained bythe dropped one byone ti 7 are alternately moved in ant. 254.

It should be observed that it a pair 01' plungers 2G5 shouldcatch a corkbetween them, the springs 242 will give "and the plungers will slidebackward into their caps ation of the ed into the 1 the direc 230 and281. its in various positions, and as they are moved under the tongue282, they are pushed over by this tongue and swung to position in whichas their tapered small ends hang downward between the belts, theirenlarged ends being caught and held betwcent-hese belts as best Thecorks are then carried member 281 over the peripl'leral edge of the gear225, and since this gear'is-rotating at a higher speed than the drums223 and 224-. and the belts can ri'ed thereby, the teeth 287 or" thegear en gage the dependingsmall ends of the corks and swing them into aposition in which they lie substantially parallel with the belts withtheir small ends lea-ding. In this position, the corks are picked outfrom between the belts 230 and 281 by the finger 288, and are guidedthereby into the cork teed tube 108, through which they are fed to thecorking mechanism and inserted in the filled botties as described above.

The (new (Figs. 1, Z5 and 11;).

As described above in connection with the bottle filling mechanism, thfilling drum BF together with its hoppe H is rotated by the shaft 8through the w n gear 9. a suitable source ofpower bein connected withthis gear. A gear 288 is fined to the shaft 3 below the plattornii 1 andengages a gear 289 carried by a stub shaft 290. The 289 a second gear291 which i; turn cnga, 4 292 fixed to the shat- 2, whereby 'illiS snaitL is rotated by the shatft e g rs 288, 289- Y I "x 268, thus avoidingtie mutil corks. The corks are then dro groove 23%- and are Carrie t a.on

l the be tion of the arrow b and 72 are rotated at the velocity.

The shaft 72 carries a beveled gear 293 fixed thereto and engaged by abevel pinion 294-, fixed to a shaft 295 carried by a bracket 296. Theshaft 2 5 carries a hand wheel 297 suitably secured hereto so that theentire rection independently of the source of power. I

A sprocket 298 is fixed to'the gear 289 and serves to drive a verticalshaft 299 through a chain 300 and a second sprocket 391. The shaft 299is Carried by a vertical sleeve 302 and is arranged to drivea secondvertical shaft 303, aligned tl'ierewith, through a suitable clutch 804;,operated by a hand lever 305. The shattSOB passes through the platforml29 and drives the shaft 139 through the worm 30d andthe worm gear lll)as shown in F 1. The shaft 303 is also tixcd to the pulley 205 wherebythe belt 292 driven. A pinion 305 is Il'iXOCl to the shaft 303 beneaththe platform 129 and a gear 306 carried by a stub shaft 307 engages thispinion and drives the shaft 173 ahrough the sprockets 308 and 309 andthe chain 310 as shown in Figs. 2, 14 and 1F. 7 I

The clutch 30% is provided to permit the bottle filling and corkin'gmechanisms to be operated. separately from the bottle feeding mechanismor to permit the lillin and cork-- ingdrums to be emptied of bottles forthe airpose o'l. eleani ng or repairs.

lt'should be understood that the various elements comprising the drivingmeans are :u'rann'ed to properly synchronize the bottle 'l'eedingg' and'lilling mechanisms so that the tending drnm FD, delivery chain 179 andbelt 202 cooperate to bring the required nun'iher of bottles to thefilling drum Bl to keep this dru m cmitinuousl y supplied.

3y reasons of defects and irregularitiesin the bottles fed into themachine, it sometimes occurs that bottles are broken in being delivcrcdfrom the feeding drum FD to the chain 179. "When this occurs, the broke.class may be quickly removed'by releasing the catch 18l. and moving thepivotally supported plate 157 away from the shield 159, thus permittingthe broken bottles to drop down free of the machine between these memhers. Also, it a broken or irregularly :tormed bottle passes on alongthe belt 292, it may be reached and removed by swinging the hinged upperquide strip 197 back from the bottles.

The present invention has been described in connection with a singlespecnic machine, and it should be clearly understood that the inventionis not limited to the exact mechanical details or expedie ts shown, andthat cc! lain m'odilications, changes and 7 emissions may be made in themachine without departing :tronr the scope of the invention as dclinedin the appended claims.

I claim g 1. In a bottle filling machine, a revolving bottle fillingdrum, a plurality of spaced extensions onthe periphery oil? said drumfor carrying bottles, means for continuously vteeding empty bottles tothe spaces between said extensions, pillteeding means carried by saiddrum, a stationary shell adjacent said drum directly engagingandsupporting aid bottles and means on said shell. for operating said pillfeeding means to i'ill said bottles.

2. In a bottle filling machine, a l'OVfdVlDg bottle filling, drum, aplurality of spaced extensions on the periphery of said drum forcarrying; bottles, means for continuously feeding empty bottles to thespaces between said extensions, a pill hopper carried by said drum, aplurality ot pill feeding mechanisms cone munieating with said hopperand disposed over the spaces between said extensions on said drum, astationary shell. surrounding, a portion of the periphery of the saiddrum and engaging the lower ends of said bottles, and means on saidshell :lor hitting each oi? said bottles into engagement with one ofsaid pill teeming); mechanisms whereby said mechanism is opera ted tolill the bottle with a number of? pills. 1

3. In a bottle :lilling machine, a revolving bottle lilling drum, aplurality of spaced extensions on the periphery oft said drum. torcarrying bottl s, means for continuously feedinc emptybottles to thespaces between said extensions, apill feeding mechanism carried by saiddrum over each of said bottles, said n'iechanism including a movablesleeve, means associated with said sleeve tlor releasing a predetermmednumber oi? pills therefrom when said sleeve is moved upwardly, astationary shelf sin-rounding a portion of said drum and engaging thelower endsoit said bottles, and means 0 said shell? tor liiilin c, saidbottles and said sleeve to lill said bottles with pills.

l. In a bottle filling machine, a rmolvinn' bottle lilting drum, meanson the periphery o't said drum for moving bottles around therewith, astationary shelf extending" adjacent said drum .lor supporting: saidbottles, :l'cedinc mechanism carried. by said drum above each saidbottles adapted to feed a -prede-. i 125 tel-mined number of pills toeach bottle when engaged and li'l'toc'l therelziy, and spring support-edmeans carri ed by said shelf for lifting each of said bottles intoengagement with its

